Scholarship Program

The Julius B. Richmond AAP/FAMRI Scholarship Program provides postdoctoral fellowship support for academic general pediatricians and sub-specialists working on children's secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and means to reduce such exposure, with the goal of training future leaders in research and community/advocacy focused on the reduction and elimination of children's secondhand tobacco smoke/tobacco exposure. This program provides up to $50,000 for two years ($25,000 per year) for postdoctoral fellows to support their research related to children and secondhand smoke. Projects must be consistent with the goals of the Richmond Center.

Future application cycle information will be posted as it becomes available.

2012 Awardee

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of utilizing saliva cotinine testing to accurately assess tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) among hospitalized child asthmatics. Based on saliva cotinine testing, the study will provide an accurate estimate of the TSE prevalence in hospitalized child asthmatics and compare TSE prevalence between hospitalized children categorized as persistent vs. intermittent asthma. This study will specifically determine the impact of TSE on annual asthma-related health care utilization and costs for children in the study population, children with intermittent asthma with positive TSE vs. negative TSE, and children with persistent asthma with positive TSE vs. negative TSE.

2009 Awardee

Reducing Infants' Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke: The Role of Prenatal Stress in Resumption of Smoking by Mothers After Delivery
Isabelle von Kohorn, MD, PhD, FAAP, PI; Yale University School of Medicine

This study will measure cumulative prenatal stress, and biomarkers of stress, in pregnant women who quit smoking during pregnancy, and determine whether this stress is a risk factor for resumption of smoking after delivery. Participants will be interviewed pre- and post-natally, and medical records will be reviewed to obtain information regarding medical risk factors and labor/birth information. This study is the first to investigate the relationship between prenatal stress exposure and resumption of smoking, and the results could help in identifying women at risk for resumption of smoking, and therefore exposure of their babies and children to secondhand tobacco smoke.

2007 Awardees

The study aims to determine the validity of the current standard admission secondhand tobacco smoke exposure assessment compared to a structured assessment and cotinine levels, determine the effectiveness of the inpatient parent smoking cessation initiative on quit rates of secondhand tobacco smoke reduction efforts, and determine whether caregivers of children admitted for "smoking exacerbated" illnesses are more likely to quit smoking following and inpatient intervention, compared with those admitted for other conditions.

The Role of Biomarker Feedback in Reducing Children's Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Stephen Wilson, MD, MSc, FAAP, PI; University of Cincinnati

This is a pilot study to test whether providing feedback to parents on their child's biomarkers of tobacco susceptibility (using DNA adduct levels) impacts smoking behaviors, leading to a reduction in their child's exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. The primary outcome is the child's secondhand tobacco smoke exposure, measured by serum cotinine at three and six months.